the slip
by SneezySoul
Summary: This is a bunch of drabbles for your favorite guardians! - v - *throws confetti*
1. The best cookies are orange cookies

**woooooo * highfives * oooooo**

 **Summary: Jack makes cookies!**

* * *

Cookies weren't THAT hard to make, right? he hums, tongue sticking out of his mouth as he looked through the refrigerator for certain things.

Was carrot cookies made with actual carrots? What about mint? Did the Yeti actually put mint inside a cookie? If so, why didn't the cookies ever look green?

Eggs. He once saw Phil put eggs in cookies. That's one ingredient, right?

Er...He tilts his head. Was milk a thing here?

Nah. Better go with Orange Juice. Besides, he was trying to make those strange orange cookies Jamie's mother had baked for halloween. He thinks Orange juice would make them Orange, right? Right.

Now maybe...Oh! Flour! Lots and lots of flour!

He frowns as some of the powdery whitness fizzles onto the floor. Oops. He sets it on the counter anyway. He'll fix up the mess once the cookies were done.

The kitchen was empty, not a yeti in sight. It was an off day, you see. Every once a week or so all the workers, and North himself shut down buissness to take a nap or something for all their hard labor. To Jack it was a nice time to fiddle around with things and put out some amazing pranks. It's not like he'll be found out anytime soon, since no one could exactly blame him for anything.

He decides that, yes, sweet potatos were orange, and sweet. They would be great for cookies, right? Whatever.

Chuckling to himself, he pulls out a large container of icing. Cookies and sweets always needed icing. Heck, fruit needed icing.

What flavour was it?

 _Oh_.

He tilts his head once more.

 _What the heck was a pistachio, and why was it icing_?

He contemplates over whether or not to stick a finger into the large tub to figure out what it was, but decides against it. Surprises were fun, and icing was never bad on a cookie, so what could ever go wrong?

Closing the fridge, he goes to look across the counter to all the loot ( and mess ) he had set aside. Now that he had all he needed, how does one go about making the cookie dough?

Shrugging, he jumps onto one of the counters, to reach above it for a plastic mixing bowl, before tossing various things in.

Eggs, Potatos, Orange Juice, flour, and so much sugar it'd make the tooth fairy die of a heart attack should she be witnessing this right now. So much sugar it should be a sin to look at, even.

He grabs a large spoon - one obviously made for Yeti hands only, as it was almost nearly the size of his arm, making him quite frustrated - and goes to mash everything together. He makes sure to add more and more flour until everything turns into some kind of Orangey blob-rock of sugared crunch.

Laughing to himself because, yay! I got it! He jumps back atop the counter to reach up once more for a cookie sheet, before taking off small parts of the orange catastrophe and rounding them into small bite-sized ball-shaped pieces.

Sighing happily, he gets the pan, and turns around and stops.

The oven.

 _How does one work an oven_?

Maybe he really should have waited for North or Nightlight or some other adult-ish person to help him...

Oh wait...were those buttons?

Awe heck yeah. He was great with buttons! He pushed them all the time with Jamie's game controller! How hard could working an oven be?

With a smile, he places the sheet into the oven, before twisting all kinds of knobs and pushing all kinds of buttons. The green button must mean if there was a vegetable in it right? Oranges were a type of vegetable, right? Had to be. Otherwise why would they grow from the ground?

No. No wait... _Flour_ was a vegetable. Orange was a _fruit_. In this case, though, the red button _might_ be an orange button.

Whatever. He quickly slides his hands all over the buttons, making sure to hit every single one. The cookies were really special ones so they had to be heated with all the buttons, because every button working together was a special thing! Like...like a community working together or something!

He jumps off the device as soon as he feels the heat radiate off the top with a laugh and a bright smile.

Then, as he goes to look over the contraption, he frowns. Now what? Did he really have to wait? - Oh! Oh _wait_! He can always go wait in the library for a little while! After all, that weird bookwarm guy was still here! He could help Jack pick out a good book or two!

With that thought in mind, he runs out the room, both excited for the promise of cookies, and the promise of a good book or two and a friend to share them with.

* * *

Phil yawns, stretching his arms into the air and cracking his neck just a bit to get that weird stiff feeling out of it. Today was, yes, a break-day, and he really shouldn't even be up and about on such a good day, instead sleeping off the stresses of work, but something was up.

Jack, the newest guardian, would usually come to the Yeti's household to curl up between Phil and Mary, Phil's wife, to rest with them and just get some cuddle out of it.

The winter child was touch-starved, loved hugs and kisses, and a lot of times if you promised him you'd give him a piggyback ride for two hours or so, he would do whatever you wanted him to. So for today being as it was, the child having not shown up was very, very odd.

Very, _very_ odd, indeed.

Which brings him back into the workshop, noting it's emptiness and silence. Thankfully there was a magic spell or two cast around for the floorboards to never squeak, so it was safe to walk at his usual up-in-the-morning pace.

Rubbing at an eye sleepily, he yawns once more, before scenting the air for the familiar scent of a Frost child.

Or taking in the air, gagging at the aweful smell of either burnt oranges or something else close to it, which appared to be coming from -

 _oh no_

Rushing to the kitchen door, he notices the dark smoke coming from underneath it, and runs in there.

Luckily, there was no fire, but a whole lot of smoke. That doesn't stop him from opening up a flame catcher - a very powerful spell-written orb that, when smashed into the ground takes all smoke and flame with it, like a powerful hose of sorts - and smashing it on the ground where the oven was.

His eyes widen as he quickly turns off all the switches and buttons frantically, wondering all the while 'who the heck left all these on?'

With that done, he goes to open the oven door, gagging as the smell seemed to rush up his nostrils as if it belonged there.

Someone had tried to make cookies.

A little notice when the word ' _try_ ' is mentioned.

Making a face, he tosses the cookies into the garbage, tying up the black bag with haste, so the smell doesn't get out, and goes to pick up the mess that someone - now that he smells around, he knows by now 'someone' is 'Jack' - had left here.

Sweeping the flour off the floor, cleaning the oven, and putting everything back into it's rightful place wasn't a huge deal to the furry being one bit, because, afterall, before Jack started coming around to break into the workshop, Phil had been a janitor.

He grunts, seeing how some gross egg muck was spilt around the sink. Boy, is he glad he's a security guard right now. Otherwise it'd be dealing with this stuff all day again. He's so lucky a certain spirit tried to break in so long ago.

As soon as that was done, and the last eggshell discarded, he starts to frown, hands on his hips.

Frost had been trying to make cookies?

 _Orange cookies_?

He thinks to it, and, really, he can't imagine there to be an actual orange cookie...

Then it catches up with him, _ORANGE_ cookies! Wasn't halloween just a few days ago? Jack must have seen some orange-colored pastries and tried to remake the treat himself!

Phil laughs quietly to himself after realizing it, taking out some clean pans, and turning the oven on low.

Perhaps, if only because he knew Jack would feel horrible about a bad set of cookies, he could make his own batch, instead. After all, lying like that just to make the spirit feel better wasn't too bad, right?

Taking out the milk, he decides, no, it wasn't a bad thing at all.

* * *

"No, that is _c-h-o-i-r_ , as in you say it as _Q-Y-ER_ , not _CHORE_." Qwerty says sternly. After hearing how Jack didn't know how to read many words, the little bookworm had taken up the mantle of teaching the child to atleast say things correctly. Jack didn't mind too much, and the worm seemed to like teaching him things, so it was a win-win. Kinda.

"Oh. Well, what's this one, then?" Jack points to another word.

"Oh. Solemn."

"What does it mean, though?"

The worm scratches at his cheek. "I believe it means something akin to -"

The worm is suddenly tossed off the boy's lap, as the winter child stands abruptly, eyes wide and a surprised gasp coming from his mouth.

" _The cookies_!"

"The - the _what_ now?!"

The boy seems to blur with how fast he flew out of the library, never hearing the questions, or the grumblings of a tiny worm, who, mind you, was very irritated at such a sudden departure and - the nerve of that boy - a short flight to the floor.

He makes a mental line to his mental lists on what to do with the winter child; Have someone teach the boy some proper manners!

Frowning, he turns to the book, which, thankfully didn't fall to the floor with him, and goes to try his luck at placing it back to it's designated spot next to the lamp.

* * *

Phil is already down the hallway, near the exit to the Yeti village by the time Jack even begins his trek.

He slams into the kitchens as if someone had set him on fire; frantic and panicked, only to stop short.

There was the oven, not smoking as he had thought it would be, and there was a wonderful smell.

Turning to the left, he frowns, and drops himself from his hover to the floor, to look at the plate of orange-coloured treats. Next to the plate is a little note, written in Phil's Yetish scrawl;

 _'Jack, I didn't know you could bake. these were good cookies, you should bake with me sometime so we could share recipes._

 _-phil'_

...What?

He...he made _good_ cookies? He looks across the round bite-sized pieces on the plate owlishly. Plucking one from the bowl, he blows cool air on it and plops it into his mouth.

Holy cow...these _were_ good cookies.

 _He made good cookies._

Wow.

And - look! They were even orange like Jamie's mother made! The Orange juice and potatos must have worked! Wow!

He takes the plate in hands, and rushes out of the room, laughing, unnoticing to how the kitchens were cleaned, or the emptied trashcan, as the only thing on his mind was; ' _i made cookies, North, try them!_ '

* * *

 **I know hardly shnit about the books so if Qwerty is wrong then you are free to smack him a lil. I cant buy the books so im going off of other fanfictions.**


	2. The voice

**Summary: Bunnymund has a friend. _*everyone coos*_ ( bc frick you all im sick right now i cant summary )**

* * *

Bunny was an exceptional older brother figure, if he had anything to say about it. Not that being an older brother was due to rating how well at it you were or anything such as that. No, Aster - _Bunny_ \- loved his younger siblings and even his older siblings with as much love as you could give to family.

Of course...that was long, _long_ ago. So long ago that even the thought of siblings makes him shake his head slowly, nonchalant, and walk away. His siblings had all died during the golden ages of time. They all died in a universe - a thousand galaxies at most - away, while he...he lived.

He lived. He lived, and lived, and _lived_. He didn't know his purpose anymore, nor why he was alive or kept surviving, all he knew was that a tiny little voice in the back of his head was constantly shouting at him. "Go, go, _go_!" it said. "Now is _not_ the time to jump from this high, and now is _not_ the time to eat poison! Go, go, go!"

And it was the very same voice that would keep him in reality. He, of course, stayed away from the outside world for many, many years after landing on the infant planet of Earth, and he just didn't feel like it was worth it to step outside of his tunnels to greet such new life to the world. This world was just like his; ingenious, compassionate, uncaring, gentle, hard...but most of all beautiful in every way. Even his darkened tunnels he had never bothered to light were beautiful; shadows dancing with the dim glow of a lantern, playing tag with one another as if equals, instead of enemies. He realized a long time ago that not all shadows were too terribly bad. At least the younger ones tended to be thoughtful.

His tunnels were beautiful, but there was always something missing...something that lacked, something misplaced. He had checked o his prized possession, hope, many a time, but it was always there, so what could he possibly be missing? He had food, water, warmth, cold, anything a grown pooka like himself would ever want, really.

* * *

The niggling thought-voice starts to whisper unintelligibly to him, sometimes. It tells him of the deep colds and starshine and then abruptly it will splutter into a fit about the importance of gemstones and the troubles of the human concept of light having years.

He closes his eyes, laying in his nest, blanket draped around him with little care if a paw stuck out or not, content with what is and what was. The voice drolls* on wards, though, telling him stories of winter, of spirits and cold, cold, _cold_. He knew he was too old for being told stories, but he can't help but listen to the ramblings of a voice not of his own.

" _There will be a day_ -" The voice says softly. " - _that I will be not here, nor there_."

The pooka cracks open an eye, despite knowing the voice isn't from a person nearby, or even an actual person in general. He looks to the dirt ceiling, frowning softly at the dim lights of the flowers of his home world, telling him it was nighttime on this planet instantly. "Why not?" he whispers. "Why will you not be here nor _there_? Are you even here or there _now_ , or are you there and here all the same?"

He feels suddenly warm inside, kind of like after one receives a well-spirited hug, or a kiss atop the forehead from a mother. It was a feeling of warmth, kindness, and love. It spoke so much more than any could speak then.

" _I am here_." it answers. " _But soon I will not be_. _We are too close_."

Bunny, ignoring the soothing calmness erupting from him, frowns a little more, scrunching up his eyebrows, and nibbling at his bottom lip. "Will you come back?" he asks, a little too quietly for his own tastes, but then again, this voice has been with him for so long now that he was absolutely saddened that it must go now, of all times.

" _Pooka_ ," the little voice seems to laugh. " _what part of we are close did miss your kittish brain_?"

" _What_?"

" _I am here, but I am not here, pooka_."

Aster sits up slowly, allowing the blanket to roll right off of his chest, as he stares at the nature-covered wall in front of him. His den room was not yet complete yet due to his making of streams and restorations of his favorite flowers. He planned to finish it soon, though, he thinks. As the wall of grasses and reeds all seemed a little strange compared to the other blank walls.

He scratches at an ear, frown never leaving him, only softening up a bit. "Why must you speak in _puzzles_ and _riddles_ , voice?" he asks, nose twitching. "Why remain so anonymous?"

" _I speak to you through mind_." the voice answers. Aster could swear he felt a flick to his ear, but downplays it as just a sleepy tick instead. " _My thoughts are different. Vexed and twisted compared to your simple strain. It is easier to speak with you in puzzels and tricks_."

"But if you are real, why not outright tell me a _name_? Maybe tell me what you look like, for a start."

The voice is quiet for a minute more, and Aster shifts in the silence, wondering if it left, and hoping that it didn't. At this point the voice was his companion; a friend who knew a lot of his secrets and life. Someone who shared his pains and helped him through it. Such a friend wouldn't just up and leave, right?

" _My name is too complicated_." the thought-voice says, tone happy, as if it didn't affect him - _it_ \- too much. " _But I am cold. I am winter, was winter, will always be winter._ - _Wherever you go, that is_."

The pooka blinks stupidly at that. "You are winter? How does such a thing work?"

" _You will see_." the voice laughs. " _Now lie in nesting, and dream of beautiful dreams_."

Aster does lay down, but he doesn't close his eyes. "You are leaving _now_?"

"Yes."

"We will meet again?"

"Yes."

The pookan warrior now smiles; a soft, tiny smile that seemed untrained, and barely used. It was such a look to his face that it would baffle hundreds should they see it. It was probably his first smile since he had begun here, and it was beautiful, in a sad, misplaced way.

He feels that little warm feeling once more, and relishes it, for he knows this may be one of the last times he feels such a feeling for a long, long time.

And he, a once, and still is powerful warrior of one of the strongest tribe of pookan warriors, chuckles softly, despite his disheartened feelings, and he ignores the tear slipping down his eye, and goes to make himself comfortable, tugging the blanket back up, and nuzzling into his pillow.

"Tell me one last story. One only we shall remember." he demands softly, feeling like sobbing and crying to his friend to never leave. "That way, should we do meet, we shall tell one another of said story, and remember."

" _Then shall you dream of beautiful dreams, child_?"

"Yes."

" _Then I shall tell you of winter, and you shall tell me of pooka_." the voice whispers out, as if it were a secret. Aster closes his eyes and hums in agreement.

"It is a deal." the pooka says. "But why a story of pooka? Don't you know already, what with being of my mind?"

" _I do. It's sad. But I want the story in a way only Aster_ \- _kitten, youngling_ \- _would know how to tell it. I want to hear it from your lips, and learn every name of everyone. I wish to know more than knowing_."

"I see." Aster nods. It was understandable. This voice has only been with him since he arrived on Earth, and so it must have only caught glimpses whenever the pooka became sad. Aster feels horrible for not sharing with his friend, but he knows it will be hard.

He then retells the tale. The tale of large furry Rabbit-like men with six arms, magics, scents and smarts. He tells about the mountains, how snow was hardly ever a problem, as his planet was too hot for a lot of snow, and he tells about his family, of the foods they loved to eat, of the games they played in the meadows.

The things he tells the voice would never be told to anyone else, he knows. This tale was one full of sadness, loss, and regrets; this tale long and longer, spiraling to an insane-like twist to the end, that would seem almost like mint inside of a piece of strawberry; _impossible_.

Thought-voice listens on, ever a faithful companion, and goes to sooth and calm the other down when the story became too much, sometimes even crying along with him in wails sounding akin to a whistle of the wind through the mountains. Aster has never heard the voice cry until now, as it would usually laugh, so the sounds of it's crying were new, and sort of scary, in a strange, haunting way.

As he nears the end, he is abruptly cut off. " _I think I should start now. Your end is horrible enough. Don't think about it, don't think, don't think. Listen to mine, to my ends and my beginnings. Listen to my stories, listen to me, listen._ "

Wiping the tears from the fur on his cheeks, he hiccups, and offers a smile - another little rare thing - to no one, and nothing. "I will. Thank you." - _'thank you for letting me tell you'_ , is something unspoken but somehow known between the two.

" _My story is far different from yours._ " the voice begins slowly, as if recalling an old fairy tale. " _It begins with an ending, and ends with a beginning. A vortex of infinities and lifetimes, yet all the while untouched by time_."

"Does it involve dragons, fae, and star children too?" Aster jokes a little, finally over his tear-shed for now. He knows once he wakes in the morning without his friend he would cry all over again, but for now he was just happy the voice was there, no matter how confusing it was sometimes.

" _It does, yes, how did you know_?"

Bunny snorts. "They are real?"

" _You did not know_?"

"Nevermind, please continue." Aster says, turning to his side, and curling into a comfortable position around the pillow he had once nuzzled before.

" _My story begins with lonely things_..."

* * *

By the time the story ends, the feeling of fingers running through the fur atop his head is all he feels in his sleepy semi-consciousness. Bunny is asleep soon after, and the voice gone in the daylight, as if a wish well wasted on the wrong star, or the last puff of smoke from a dying flame.

The pooka does cry; he cries for nearly five whole centuries, digging more and more caverns, picking up old hobbies he once never wanted a part of, and even sometimes trying to grow the Earth's trees in the warren, if only but a way of distraction from the emptiness of his mind.

Now, the warren is even emptier than it was once before, no matter how many trees or flowers or inventions and paintings.

And Bunny thinks it will always be this way, after a long while of waiting for a friend long gone.

* * *

Silly enough, his ending begins with a beginning, from what Aster heard. Jack Frost spoke of things far beyond his knowing. He plays as if he forgot, and Aster knows that a lot the spirit probably has, but he can't help but perk up his ears every time the newest guardian laughs, or talks to him.

He thinks he should recognize something, but he's not quite sure what he should be remembering so far.

Besides, he snorts, Jack Frost was only three hundred years old, if that. He was far too young for Aster to have met before. Easter Sunday of 68 didn't count, either, since Jack Frost had flown away straight after the storm like a wuss.

Jack though...he was like the younger brother Aster never truly wanted. He does know he once had younger brothers and sisters, but they were all pookan kits; little fluffs that hopped and caused trouble. Jack Frost was not a pookan kit, but he did act like it a lot sometimes. Sometimes he'd choose a carrot over a piece of chocolate, or he'd be seen trying to teach the larger stone eggs to hop.

It was probably bad, but Aster couldn't help but letting go of hurtful insults or becoming softer to the youth. He knew that if his family and kind were still around that they'd adopt Jack right off the bat, no questions asked.

Okay, maybe a question or two, like ' _what do they eat_ ' or ' _whats with all the clothing_ '. Back in his planet, there really were no humans, so it would have been pretty normal for any pooka to ask about them once in a while. Humans were like a fairy tale to pooka, before everything destroyed the pookan world.

Heck, if his kind were alive right now, he'd laugh at all his neices, nephews, brothers, sisters, everyone about how he was the very first pooka to actually get to touch a human - with a fist! - They would surely be jealous, and also have a good laugh about it all.

His family was dead, though, and so the thought is dropped in a moment, to prevent himself from anymore hurtful thinking.

"So what happened afterwards?" Nightlight prods the winter spirit on. The two had been talking back and forth after having just met one another about two hours ago, swapping stories and sharing pranks and jokes as if they knew each other for more than a mere hour or two.

Jack laughs. "The lady 'tripped' over the pot of flowers meant for her and tumbled right into the leprechaun!"

"Oh wow. Why was he there?"

"He placed the flowers there!" Jack laughs once more, Nightlight joining in with his own giggling. "He didn't know how absolutely _insane_ she is! She pummeled the little man so much he had to leave for _three_ years to get better!"

Nightlight covers his face with his hands, shoulders shaking in laughter. "How did you get her to even trip? Is that even a thing?"

"She doesn't watch her feet, if you haven't noticed." Jack replies, smiling. "I don't even think she knew what ice was back then!"

The glowing child laughs harder at this, nearly falling off his perch on the back of the couch. "H- _how_?!"

Jack shrugs, chuckling. "There wasn't a winter back then! Mother Nature didn't even know it was a thing!"

Bunny's ear twitches. Mother Nature had no clue what winter even was? Didn't she control it? He asks this question aloud, soon regretting it as the two look toward him owlishly, as if they never noticed him standing aside and listening.

"No." Jack answers. "She controls the hot stuff."

"You mean summer?" Aster crosses his arms.

"Summer, spring, fall, autumn, whatever you want to call it."

"Wow." Nightlight says, going to scratch at his head. "Maybe next time we need to deal with her we could all use snowballs!"

"Yeah!"

The two children fistbump. Aster only shakes his head with a smirk.

* * *

He sniffs the air slowly, in deep, deep breathes. The smell he remembers, yes, but where it came from he knew not. The smell reminded him of winter, of cold times, but it also spoke of happiness and home. It seemed to make his brain feel fuzzy, like that one time he had been up in the mountain of Ku-rai and ran into his favored uncle, Istendr.

He doesn't follow this smell, though, as he knows it would only end up with him bumping into Jack Frost. The smell was the younger's scent, and Aster couldn't help but let his hope toy with him about it. His hope soared when he smelled it, and still soared when he ran into the winter sprite. It was an oddity, really.

"Hello!" Jack greets, as Aster finds himself in front of said winter child. He must have unconsciously moved or something in his thoughts of home, to be standing here.

"Aye." he greets back, snuffing his nose quietly afterward; the pookan way of greeting. An old habit never forgotten.

"Do you want to play with me?" Jack asks, throwing a smile up at him.

' _Do you wish to play, pooka kitten? play, play, play?_ ' Aster frowns at the random sentence that had appeared in his mind at that. He wasn't a kit anymore, and there was no way someone sounded as strange as that anymore.

"What's with the face? Afraid it's a game you'll lose?" the winter child smirks.

Aster smirks right back, ignoring his random thoughts and instead leaning down a bit, to be face-to-face with the youth. "Them's _fighting_ words." he growls playfully.

Jack laughs, racing off down the open meadows that lead to the pooka's paint streams, screaming in glee as said pooka races after, catching up with little effort.

Who cares about old scents and old thoughts when you could dunk a little dye on a snowflake?

* * *

He pretends to sleep in the library on a make-shift nest as Jake reads a book to baby tooth. Baby tooth, as Jake had found out, couldn't read, as the only letters the children wrote were for her mother, Toothiana, instead. It was a bit sad, but Jack seemed to understand, surprisingly enough, and began to both read to her and teach her certain words as he went. It was adorable, really. Don't tell anyone he thought that, though.

"Oh Romeo, oh Romeo, where art -" Jack sighs, slamming the book closed, causing baby tooth to jump from her seat on the end table next to the little couch the winter child sat upon. "This book is boring. All these books have are sadness. Where did they put the happier ones?"

Baby tooth shrugs, as Bunny shifts in his 'sleep'.

Jack smiles, then. "How about I tell you a story of mine, instead?"

At the fairies nod, he chuckles. "Okay, but I have to warn you, it's really, really difficult to understand at some points for others, so stop me where you get confused."

The little fairy cheeps, nodding.

"Alright..." The spirit glances Bunny's way for a moment, a if checking for something, before continuing.

"My story begins with a story, which also begins with a story." he starts. "And when the first story ends, the other begins. It's an infinity of ends being beginnings and beginnings being ends. It never ends, yet never begins, all at the same time doing just the opposite."

 _'It begins with an ending, and ends with a beginning. A vortex of infinities and lifetimes, yet all the while untouched by time.'_

Aster's eyes open wide at that.

 _The thought-voice..._

* * *

 **When did i write this? oh well i posted it n you read it so there its done be free, little drabble, be free~**


	3. In which bed-nests are made i guess

**Summary: Get ready for fun reads with your favorite huggable trio, Nightlight, Katharine, and Jack!**

 **( OR in this case the summary would be: "the first part of this story is completly unrelated but whatdoyouknow this is just a drabble kthnxbye" )**

* * *

He was confused. A lot. In fact, he was confused right now. He wasn't sure what was right ad what was wrong, or if it was okay to say yes or no. He's never had many an experience where he had an inkling as to knowing of what to do, or how things were, because to him they just were, and what better explanation would there be? The cookies all tasted good, why must he choose? The eggs were wonderfully painted, so why must he comment on them as well? Why must he add his own opinions to matters that weren't to change with just his voice?

Things. Just. Were.

They always will be, too.

But that still confuses him, because sometimes he finds himself wanting to change things that were, to make them into another being, or colour, or shape, or anything that is a different type of being. He wanted to change the 'there' and make it 'where', he wanted to move that sand cloud over 'there', not over 'where'. He wanted to change things, which was something he was deprived of until after everything had settled itself down from the dark man's harshness over the world.

He doesn't think he wants the boogeyman to be as were. He wants to change that were and make it into something else, perhaps. But alas, Katharine has already tried once, and she said that nothing worked very well, so he doesn't think about the dark man a lot anymore.

The glow-child, Nightlight, currently sits along with Katharine, Mother of geese, reading into a large holder of words and stories with mild interest and happy smiles. The couch they sat upon looked a tad uncomfortable, but he wasn't going to bother much with it. Sure, it was very, very comfortable if you placed a lot of cold and snow onto it and curled yourself up, but he found out that a lot of beings didn't appreciate his cold and snow.

He rolls absently on his back, as he had been sitting on the floor, bored. This story was confusing. Why did the dragon protect the gem? What even is a dragon? What is a gem? Why is a gem so important for a mythical dragon to protect it so? Who even wrote this story down?

Katharine notices his bored-like expression, and giggles. "Are you quite alright? You look like Ombric when he's pondering over a complicated spell of his." Nightlight laughs a silent laugh as she says this, as he still remembers the strange laze Katharine's adoptive father had been in while he searched for a spell to make oneself clean without shower.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, such a spell was never finished, as Ombric was easily distracted by another, easier spell.

Frost - bored, and unamused at the jibe, as he did not know such an Ombric-man - blinks slowly at her, as if a child waking from a dream. "This story is strange and vanilla-tasting. Why not spend your times playing outside, or flying?"

The girl laughs. "Flying? Playing? In this weather?" she gestures out the window, where the snow is coming down heavily enough to block all sight and the sky is dark enough that one cannot spot the white in the clouds. "Books are wonderful things, too. Why don't you find one you're interested in, instead of listening to me babble on and on? There should be one here for you, as there is a book for everyone."

Nightlight frowns. (( Unless you are tired. Books don't usually work magic when you're too tired. )) he says, in his weird language, which, to Frost's ears, sounds a lot like a melody of chimes and the gentle rushing of air, but he was different, so he didn't think it sounded like so to everyone else. Maybe everyone heard a loud buzzing noise, or even the gushing of harsh waters when the astral child speaks. It was what it was, though, so Frost drops the thought, not interested.

"Stories are nice." The winter child admits, rolling himself to his side to peer at the two without craning his neck so painfully. "But fun is better. When does this book turn fun? It's been long time enough and not one word had earned a laugh or a snicker." he blinks at her slowly, once more. "You also cannot throw the book like snow, and you cannot eat the book like a treat, nor can you paint the book. Where is the fun in it?"

"That is a good question." Katharine nods solemnly. "A very good question, indeed. While this book may not be as fun as you want it, there are millions of other books which may or may not be fun. It's not throwable, chasable, chewable, or even paintable, but the words - the words are what makes a book fun."

(( And sometimes the words are sad, like this book. )) Nightlight plucks up another large tome beside him, holding it up as if in show. (( This book is very sad. The book she reads now is more mystery than fun, I admit. )) the glow-child turns to face Katharine. (( Why DON'T we choose a fun book instead? I know you are itching as much as I am to have a laugh in such dreary weather! A good cup of eggnog and a laugh will do wonders, don't you agree? ))

Jack, from his place on the floor, nods feverishly*, giving out a large, toothy smile. "I would like to have a fun book, and a treat, too!"

Katharine laughs. "Alright, alright." she turns to the glow-child. "You get some drinks and snacks, I will find some books." she then turns her attention to Frost. "And you gather up a few blankets and pillows. If we're going to get comfortable, we might as well go all-out!"

 _Ooo_ , Frost quickly sits up. _Are they going to make a large blanket nest like Bunnymund has_? Jack has always pondered over whether it would be comfortable, or not. It looked like something you'd want to throw yourself into, like a pile of leaves.

He stands up, and takes off as quickly as he can, to search through the various rooms and storages around the north-man's workshop for any comfortable bedding items he could find. He has to constantly remind himself what's normally on a bed, though, because the thought of cuddling with a few yeti's as one would to blankets and pillows sounds nice to him as well. Would Yeti even allow such a thing? Were robes, towels, and stuffed animals comfy enough for a nest?

He finds about three pillows and two blankets so far, from looking into the bedrooms. One smells oddly like the bird-woman, Toothiana, but he only guesses that she had slept atop them before. Besides, it's not like Katharine or Nightlight would scent the fairy anyway. Their noses couldn't pick up such things, untrained as they were.

Skidding to a short halt, he rushes into the room he started out in, to dump the load onto the floor, before rushing off to continue his search.

He wants to make the best blanket next ever, that way maybe the Rabbit will come and laugh to fun word holder tales as well. The Rabbit looked so grumpy and sad sometimes, so it would do the beast well.

Speaking of Rabbit beasts...

He stops at one of the room entryways, and peers in, to spot the North-man sitting on a chair, and Rabbit seated on a bed, talking in hushed voices as if two gossiping hens during a church service. Frost doesn't necessarily cares about their talk, though, only spying the blanket the Rabbit is sat upon with interest.

Surely, if the Rabbit was seated on this blanket, it must be special, correct? So, if it were special, then if he happened to take said blanket, and added it to the nest, the Rabbit would join? Would he make the North-man join, too? That would be good!

Thought in mind, he sneaks foreword, not even spotting the bemused look North-man was giving him, or the flicker of large ears to his direction. He is sneaky, is he not? Sneaks only get caught when they're run off, from what Frost has seen, so therefore he was very, very sneaky.

He tugs lightly at the edge of soft blanket, testing his quietness. The hushed voices begin once more, though this time with more chuckling and happy. Maybe they knew about the fun books already, and they were just excited?

With a violent tug, and a crash from both sides of the room, Jack takes off with the nesting piece, rushing down the hallway with a laugh as he hears a loud curse from the room he ran from.

"Frost!" the Rabbit shouts, as the familiar loud laugh of the North-man bellows through the halls in an echo. Soon, Jack has to force himself to go just a bit faster, as the all-too-well-known thump thump thumps of the Rabbit's running gait* enter his hearing.

He laughs, spotting a Yeti maid up ahead, who, in her hands was two more blankets. This was very perfect - for Jack, that is, as he yanks the blanket from the Yeti's hands all too fast, accidentally causing the hairy creature to topple over, right into the Rabbit's path, slowing the beast down just a bit more.

He makes a sharp turn, sliding just a bit, and flies into the reading room at a speed that made him appear a blur, diving into the bedding items previous, which were still set up on the floor, and letting the blankets he had now collected flutter into the air, to land on top of him as he flops into the mess of an unfinished nest, completely hiding him from view.

He hears the Rabbit slam into the entryway with a short crash and a curse. He hears the Rabbit's breathing coming out in huffs and puffs. Jack rolls his eyes. The Rabbit should be used to running, because that's what Rabbits are meant to do!

Giggling comes loudly from Katharine, and Jack finds himself smiling. "Aster, what ever brings you here? Did you want to read, too?"

Rabbit - Aster - huffs once more. "What is going on in here?" Frost feels the Rabbit move the blankets a bit, probably nudging them with a paw, no less.

"Nightlight, Jack, and I were just making comfy to read some books."

Shortly after that answer, the blankets shift around a bit more, until eventually the topmost blankets are pushed to the side, revealing said winter child, who grins happily at the Rabbit. "Hello!" he greets, as the Rabbit gives him an incredulous look.

"Ah. I see." the Rabbit goes to strand straighter, now that he has moved the blankets away. "But why all the blankets and pillows and - and is that North's hat?"

"No." Jack answers, a little too quickly, at that.

"Never mind, I'm sure I don't want to know."

"Jack said the hat was fun." Katharine laughs. "And we're reading fun books. So why not fun hats, as well?" she looks over a few more of the tomes on the bookshelves. "And the blankets are merely comfortable, don't you think so? I've always wished to lie in a ton of blankets with good books, good foods, and good friends."

Aster nods. "That does sound like a good day - or night. Though..." the Rabbit glances over the fluffy, comfortable objects on the floor. "I do see a few things which are not blankets and pillows. Frost, where in the world did you find that robe? I thought I burned that thing years ago."

"Nu uh." Jack sits up, after a short struggle with a blanket that had tried to twist around his arm. "It was in a room."

"Speaking of which -" Katharine leans down to grab at a book to the bottom of the shelves. " - Why don't you join us, Aster? I know you may be older than all of us here, but surely even you would like to hear a good book?"

The Rabbit laughs. "It's not that the offer doesn't sound appealing, but I must decline. I promised to talk to North about a few things, and we were doing so until Frostbite decided to up and steal the blanket I had been sat on!"

"Oh! The nerve!" Katharine laughs, placing a small stack of books into the uncomfortable clouch, slapping her hands together afterwards to get some of the dust off. Some of these books were in such conditions it'd make Qwerty cry, should he be here now, what with some having pages folded, dust covering them, and sometimes even a torn cover.

These books were well-loved though, even if not taken care of. The tears on the pages were simply meant as love-wounds, and the occasional yellowed, aged page was a telling of how many years it had been loved. It was enough to make Katharine feel at home, at least. Old, well-loved books were her spirit-food. Especially when she got to read aloud those old, well-loved books.

"Why are you even letting Frosty here collect the blankets and such?" Rabbit asks. "There's more than just bedding here, and I don't think snowflake knows what's even appropriate."

Jack frowns as the rude beast. "I know what matters." he objects. "What matters is having the best comfortable bed in the entire pole, and if I find something that makes it better, then it will make it better."

"Towels, Frost?"

"Towels are just baby blankets who never got to grow up."

Katharine snorts in laughter, accidentally dropping a small novel.

Jack never had the best logic, but he was such a fun elfling to have around, that no one bothered him often. Of course, sometimes he'd choose the wrong things to say, or wrong actions, but he was a good, good friend.

And yes, Jack happened to be an elf. No, not those pointy-eared, jolly, wood-wanderers, but an ice elf. Snow elf is more appropriate, though, seeing as how ice elves preferred to hide in the snow for all their days. Where do you think most lost adventurers go when they get trapped in Antarctica? They simply fall into the iceling's caverns, is all. Why, even North has had an accident or two where he was trapped in the cave systems there.

Thankfully, the Snow elves are tolerant of such happenings. Of course, they don't like people an entire lot, especially humans, but they tend to just keep their distance. It's kind of like falling into a pen of people-shy canines, actually. They don't bite unless you do first, or some other dumb sentence such as that.

Frost was different, though. Katharine can't quite remember when he'd appeared or became a part of the family, but the elfling just showed up, and just like that he was instantly loved.

A good thing, too, because they learned a few months after accepting Frost that Pitch Black had been trying his best to make the winter child into his 'prince of shadows' or something other.

(( I have the stuff! )) Nightlight shouts from the doorway, holding a tray stacked with cookies, and just barely balancing the stacked cups of eggnog. It looked like something out of a cartoon; the character with a whole stack of dishes, or whatnot, doing their best to balance the tower. It was a wonder how the astral boy managed to keep it from toppling over, from how many treats he had on top of it. (( This is only the first platter. Yetis are making up some more for the second, in case we need a second. ))

"Did you get the cold slush?" Jack asks, rolling over and getting onto his knees, away from the blanket mess, hair disheveled just a tiny smudge enough to be noticeable.

(( You mean the ice cream? )) Nightlight arches an eyebrow, wandering slowly into the room. (( I'll have to go back for some. What do you want? )) he asks, setting the tray with all the care in the world atop the small coffee table set to the side.

"I want some slush, is what I want." The winter child frowns.

(( I meant what kind of flavour do you want. ))

"Oh. Do I have to pick?" Jack smiles.

(( Probably. )) Nightlight nods, offering a smile of his own, and a small wave to Aster. (( There's over fifty types of Ice cream here. ))

"Carrot's the best flavour." Bunny states. "You should grab some o' that. You might like it."

"What about chocolate?" Katharine hums. "Or pistachio?"

(( I like strawberry and pecan. ))

Jack laughs. "I want to try all of those. Can I?"

The astral child shrugs. (( I'll get you a bowl with a buttload of flavours, but first, tell me, why do you have North's hat, and how did you get it off his head? ))

"Magic!" Jack answers. "One moment I was standing next to him as he talked yetish, and the next thing I knew, the hat was on my head! It was really soft, too! - So that is why, and how."

(( Why is no one wearing it, then? ))

The winter child shrugs once more. "It's too big for me, so I figured it would be a good headrest for one who needs it."

Nightlight laughs. (( And have you told North? ))

"Nope!"

* * *

 **Ye horrible end, how you doubt my abilities so. *facedesks* - c - ;**

 **As for Snow elves, you can thank that one person on the ROTG kink meme for the idea of them. I only remember their prompt, not their name, so...sorry random person! e v e"**


	4. Oh my God nightlight nooooo

**TW for blood and stuff okay?**

 **Summary: Nightlight is the cliffhanger. It is him.**

* * *

It hurts it hurts it h his brain shouts over and over and over as he gasps, and pulls himself forward once more.

Dangling off the cliff, with no way of flying whatsoever, while your side bled a bright red was not a fun sport. Though, he wasn't really sporting right now, nor was he sporting before.

Some wendigo had decided that they just didn't appreciate all the ice they kept slipping on, and decided to call him out on it. Call him out, as in and epic chase through the forest, the snapping of a prized wooden magical conduit, and stabbing someone only to toss them off a cliff like a rock.

Yeah.

His fingers slip momentarily, giving his heart a jolt. It wasn't death he was afraid of, it was the landing. He was immortal, technically, so that landing won't kill him, but it'll come pretty dang close to feeling that way.

Tears trickle out of his eyes, and he prays silently that someone, anyone, heck, even the freaking boogeyman would come and save him.

Clenching his eyes tightly, he sobs as his side flares up in an agonizing pain.

Now he knows why he hates Wendigo so much...

And even though he is not going to die, he starts to think of Katharine, of Ombric, of Kailash, of Tsar, of everyone. What would they do without him? Where are they now? Please come; please please pleaseplease com here please -

Another sob of his and a slip of the fingers has his mind nearly blank itself.

Please come, he sobs, please please please.

The dripping and dropping of his blood from the tip of his shoe is the only thing he can remotely hear over the whooshing and howling of the wind. The clouds above blocked away the moon, so he had no way of shouting to his Tsarling, and no way of sending moonbeam, as moonbeam could only travel by moonlight.*

He wonders what horrible, terrible thing he had done to deserve this.

He keeps his eyes closed, and continues to pray and hope.

* * *

Bunnymund wasn't normally a busy Rabbit. His egglets all painted themselves, unless he wanted to try his hand at it, he hardly ever needed to clean up after his eggs, and his home was always - always clean as a whistle, not one speck of dirt to be seen.

So when he found himself busy, chasing down a run-away shadow that had snuck into his warren - his home - he finds himself led off into the vast wilderness of Canada, where the snow falls down heavily, the wind whistles without a care in the world and many, many wilds.

He doesn't bother looking anymore than a second time, as the shadow seems to mock him, turning itself into a hare, ad hopping off into the brush with a bound far too high for any ordinary rabbit.

His chest tightens, and he tosses his robe back into the hole which he had hopped out of. Who needed decency out here? No one would see him without his clothing, and if they did, he was a pooka, he was pretty furry all around, so he was never, ever indecent.

With a snarl, and gnashing of his teeth, he rushes with all the vigor of a competitive racer into the forests, chasing after the little darkling with all the viciousness in his soul. If a wolf were to see him now, he was sure it'd start crying like a baby in his presence. He was pooka, and pooka were only the finest, vicious warriors, when they wanted to be.

Oooh, and want to be he did. The shadow stops near a clearing, and it seems to chuckle a dark chuckle at him mockingly. How dare it? He snarls once more, never slowing down, and never giving up. If this shadow found a way into his warren, then what would stop it from entering again and again but the _owner_ of said warren?

A sob fills the air.

He skids to an abrupt stop, finding the shadow missing from his line of sight. Who cried? _Who_?

With a twitch of the nose and a flit of the ears, he stands straight. Had this shadow brought him to a poor soul? Had it? _Why_? Shadows were evil, vile creatures, only sending fear and nothing more, so why would it bring him to one who cries so?

Another sob has him pinpointing where it came from, and he leaps in the direction with haste, fearing the worst. This was a most dangerous part of the world, where dark things combine with cold things, and both blast out illness and sadness.

Blood. A Copper-like scent. It fills his nose all of a sudden and he coughs at how strong it is. Another sob reaches him and has him early running off an icy cliff.

The blood that is splattered across the snow does little to lessen his panicked mind. Where were they? Where?

(( ...As...Aster. ))

 _Nightlight_?

The pooka rushes over to where the small trill of star-speech had come from, and his stomach seems to flop.

Leaning over the cliff, he can see the faintest of glows, and an astral boy dangling on for dear life. The boy's face is screwed up in pain, and fear, and Aster doesn't even question on why the child doesn't fly out, he just jumps.

Pooka were from a planet with cliffs as high as Earth's Everest, and canyons that were considered tiny the size of the ocean. Pookan trees were the tallest and the widest you could see in all the nearest galaxies, and one tree would make a skyscraper look small. Pooka had to learn at the earliest of ages how to tackle the gravity, and how to grab hold of walls, of rocks, and many, many other things in order to not fall should they have been climbing.

It was such a basic little thing. Every infant of his kind knew it, and so he did not fear this fall here. No, he merely thought it as an obstacle. A piece of garbage in the middle of the road.

His claws sink into the cliff, and he retracts them just a slight, to allow the wall to push him downward. It hurts, but it's probably from long, long years without climbing.

Nightlight - who would smile and laugh and tip over paint cans just because it was funny - cracks open a fearful eye, and whimpers as the pooka slides and catches himself to be beside the child.

Whoever did this would pay, surely. They would never be able to walk again, or fly, or whatever they do that they do most, once Aster was done with them! He growls lightly.

Releasing one of his handholds, he reaches to Nightlight, and lifts him up.

"Can you cling to my back?" Aster asks, unsure. The child could be faint from blood loss or something else, and he didn't want to send the child down to wherever this icy edge sends it's snow and rocks to.

At Nightlight's feeble nod, he pushes the child to his back, and feels the child clamber to take a hold of his scruff. He had told the astral child years ago that pookan kits usually held on like that, and he was thankful the child remembered, because he wasn't too keen on being in a choke-hold like most humans tend to do in these kinds of scenarios.

Oh, who was he kidding? Humans never got into these scenarios as far as he knew. Humans were, thankfully, hopefully, never in this kind of predicament. Ever.

With an exhale, he makes his way up slowly, the ice coating the rocks causing him to slip over once in a while. Pooka were great climbers, but one thing that was never really around was snow and ice.

In fact, he didn't know what ice was until he came to earth, and he never truly knew the term 'cold' until he had began to dig the grounds of a warren here. Space was cold, yes, but spaceships were warm, and so he never got cold. This planet was far, far more different in comparison to his old home.

(( Thank you, Aster. )) Nightlight whispers.

"Don't..." The pooka grunts in annoyance at the ice clinging so desperately to his claws. "Don't mention it."

* * *

His prayers were answered! Someone came! Someone's here! Aster! Aster, aster, aster!

He'll never, ever tip over paint cans and draw on the warren trees ever again! Ever, ever, never again! Thank you, Pooka, thank you, thank you, thank you!

He tightens his hands on the scruff of the warrior at those thoughts, smiling despite the pained numbness in his side. He had thought he would only be found when the moon finds him, laying in his own blood at the bottom of wherever, but here was Bunnymund, scaling the cliff as if it were nothing but a speed bump, carrying him along as if his weight meant nothing but a speck of lint caught in his fur.

The pooka was truly the best one for this kind of situation, and Nightlight makes a note on it, for future cases where he needed to climb a cliff or something.

Why would he even need to climb a cliff, though?

"Alright." Bunnymund grunts, pulling himself up onto flat, snowy land. He stands straight, now. "Can you walk? Do you want to go to the workshop? Big Root?"

Nightlight nods. (( Big Root. )) He answers. (( Ombric knows some minor healing spells. ))

"You mean the ones that sizzle on your skin like carbon in a pop?" Aster asks. "Won't that hurt more?"

(( Yes. But it will heal much, much faster. ))

"I see." the pooka helps Nightlight down, and frowns at the blood. "I will carry you there. There's no point in walking if you're going to lose all your fuel, you know?"

Nightlight frowns. (( I can still walk! See? )) he goes to take a step, and nearly topples over when his side decides to interrupt him with a fit of pain like a thousand needles. Bunny luckily catches him.

"No. Hop on my back. I'll have to walk like a dam with-child, but I'm sure this situation calls for such a look." He now gets on all fours, laying down just a bit to allow the astral child to slip on, which takes a good few minutes of half-said curses, and tugging of the fur. Sure, the scruff of the neck was good to tug, but the fur along his back, or his tail was not something you just tug, child!

With the boy holding on, he rushes back into his hole, to search his various caverns for the correct path. Big Root was somewhere...somewhere...oh, yes, _there_.

He runs straight into a co-joining hole, rushing through various tunnels, knowing which one led where and what the fastest rout was. He knew his tunnels like the back of his hand, or the shape of an egg. They were a simple type of puzzle in his never-ending warren. A puzzle he had looked over and over for years now, and so remembering it's places.

To be completely honest, the pooka had never actually been to Big Root. He's been on the outskirts, yes, but he had never truly walked there. His eggs knew just the right places to hide, so he'd send them off on their own a lot of times, so he didn't have to tire himself out too fast.

But the tree was grand, and old. It was alive, yes, but it was old. To Aster, it reminded him of the old Earkin spirits of his world. They were fae who would turn themselves into trees, and gave fruits and homes and so on to those who needed it.

Of course, the idea was so silly, back when that world was still around, and pooka were still around. Now, though, Aster can't help but sometimes wonder 'what if, what if what if?' when it came to the Earkin. Were they spirits just like Aster was, or Nightlight, or even Toothiana? Were they lonely? Did they scorn the pooka for never seeing them?

Of course, those were old, old thoughts, and right now, he dashes through the tunnels with the speed rivaling that of a rocket.

Nightlight was hurt, obviously, and it needed tending. The Rabbit shouldn't keep on with his thoughts like that, lest they slow him down.

* * *

 **Ta-da, another crappy ending! I'm on a roll!**

 **never read the books remember so this is completely stupid and so am i *smacks self with rolled up newspaper***


	5. a cuddle pile of fluff and cuties maybe?

**This is like a bunnyxjack thing but I like to say its a very heavy bromance. ( Or platonic love. )**

* * *

"I'm just glad that you came." he sighs tiredly, happily, from where he lay on the snowy ground, his back to the large tree he decided would make a good sort of wall.

The other - Bunnymund - snorts, shaking his head fondly. "I'm glad that out of everyone you know, you called me."

It was two in the morning, the moon finally showing itself at last from behind clouds, and it did little to nothing about how frantic Bunnymund was when Jack had called him over; it wasn't like the younger was dying, or even sick. But he was concerned at how the younger was still sleepily on the ground as if nothing were wrong, even though he called to say just that.

It was two in the morning, and Jack Frost - the trouble maker of his life, and brother-in-arms - was laying still for once, not even a laugh coming from him, and not even a quic movement. Simply laying there.

"Why did you call me? - Nothing is wrong from what I see." the rabbit sniffs, placing the old cellphone - yes, the guardians had cellphones now that ran on magic, and it was the most worst kind of thing in his book - inside of his bandolier.

Jack rolls his eyes, before stretching an arm out, beckoning to the older. " _Cuddle_?" he asks, a slight pouty look to him, doing wonders for his puppy eyed expression.

"You called me at _two_ in the _morning_..." the rabbit starts. "Because you wanted to _cuddle_? Why?"

The younger beckons yet again. "Most teenagers are destructive, homicidal maniacs on hormones and you're complaining about me wanting to cuddle my favouritest bunny in the whole wide world?"

The rabbit - _pooka, really_ \- shakes his head, going to sit on his knees. "You're not technically a teenager." he states. "More like a child pretending to be grown up."

Jack pouts even more, rolling onto his side and crossing his arms. "Well then it's your duty as a guardian to help a child out; and this child wants to cuddle a fluffy moron."

"Moron, eh?" the rabbit smirks. "And who just called who pretending something was wrong?"

"But something IS wrong!" the other insists.

"Like what?"

"Like me feeling lonely and the moon not talking to me; a bunny was the first thing I could think of to remedy it!"

Bunny couldn't help himself; he laughed, rubbing a hand to his ears and shaking his head. "You could've just gone to the tooth palace instead, or even North's place. Heck, you could have even found a bed at Sanderson's castle. I'm sure any of them would have been willing to put up with you."

Jack's expression almost closes off at that, his eyes going to the right, facing the ground, and his eyebrows pinched, as if you had just told him he couldn't have a snowfall for a week, and he's pretending to be ignorant about how much it bothers him.

Bunnymund sighs. "Why me, is why I said that." he looks the younger over, remembering all those times they've fought each other, all the times those fights would become physical, and just remembering the little hurtful things he's said before about Jack.

"Why not you, is what I wonder." Jack's face of silent, slight sorrow was turned into a smirk and a twinkle of his eyes, as if he knew a secret that no one could guess at.

The elder lays to his side, facing the frost child down, crossing his own arms. "Why me, indeed."

"Yes, sir Watson? Have you figured it out yet?" Jack's smirk turns into a full-blown smile.

Bunnymund could only guess: "You felt guilty?"

"Nah."

"North told you to?"

"Nope." Jack laughs, his breath coming in a short puff of clouds, along with Bunnymund's, despite the younger having hardly any body heat to him. "But you're getting close."

The older rolls his eyes. "Tell me, then? - Before I freeze my tail off?"

Before the older could blink, Jack has him scooped up in his arms, hugging the rabbit around the chest and sighing contentedly into the older's fur. "Because I wanted to cuddle with YOU."

Bunnymund considers pushing the smaller away, and then running for it - heck, he even considers slapping the younger for a moment, in the back of his mind - but his body betrays him, and his heart was in control, as he held the younger back. "But why?" he asks quietly, a few snowflakes flying up from the snowy ground at his breath.

"Because." the younger replies.

"Why, Jack?" the rabbit asks yet again.

"Because."

"Am I never getting an answer?"

Jack looks at him for a good minute before pushing himself up a bit, and touching his nose onto Bunny's. It was cold, yeah, and he didn't know what the frost child was doing, really.

"Because." the other answers, rubbing their noses together before going back to his original position.

They lay there like that, wrapped in each other's arms for a few minutes, Jack smiling, content, and Bunnymund holding him close, wondering to himself about a million to one things.

The night was quiet; you could hear the distant wind rustling through falling leaves, the usual city noises even farther in the distance, and the occasional late bird singing out a few notes of a song, even though it should have fallen to sleep a long time ago.

Bunny shifts a bit. It was so serene; much like a picture, but instead of really seeing it, hearing it. He never truly loved winter. At all. In fact, winter was like the bane of his existence. But hearing it? - the tiny bits of snow falling from trees, the little, near-silent noise of snowflakes falling to the ground?

It made him wish he didn't hate it so much.

But that still never answered his question: _why_?

Why would Jack, a winter elemental, ask to cuddle with him, Bunnymund, a spring elemental?

 _Why would winter want to hug spring_?

"Because." Jack replies quietly, and Bunny blinks a bit, before looking sheepish. He had spoken that one aloud to his dismay. Fortunately Jack doesn't laugh about it, nor does he do anything other than continue his cuddle-fest.

Bunnymund wasn't sure if it was the sounds of late night winter, or the soft wheezing of the child he held, or even the cold seeping through his bones in a sort of comforting way.

He wasn't sure if it was Sanderson, making his rounds, or even the man in the moon smiling above, sharing in a joke only he knew.

But he thinks he gets it now - the answer, that is - as he closes his eyes.

He won't remember that answer in the morning, though, but he knows it then, and he feels a sort of sleepy bliss take a hold of him.

 _Because_.


	6. Pranksters!

" **Can you do one with Nightlight and Katherine and Seraphina/Mother Nature/Emily Jane like Nightlight goes to bother Seraphina and Katherine tries to stop him but fails so she goes with him to make sure he doesn't die and then he just pulls prank after prank on Sera and she gets mad, chases them back to Santoff Claussen, and then gets her revenge (in prank form) on Nightlight and then the three become friends and wreak havoc on the poor town (also JackxBunnymund in there plz). Pleeeeeeeease? You're a good writer. *puppy dog eyes*"**

 **-Asked by a guest. not sure if you're still hanging around, since this was asked for a while ago, but I at least** _ **attempted**_ **it! Hurray!**

* * *

 **-o-**

* * *

Nightlight is so bored; Everyone was busy, and he'd done everything he could really think of doing.

North had gone with Sandy to find some weird lost treasure, Ombric and the children of Santoff Claussen were busy trying to fix North's large believer globe, Toothiana was always busy - too many teeth to collect all the time usually kept her that way.

And his best friend, Jack, had gone and asked Bunnymund for a 'cuddle-pile date of awesome and fireworks', which sounded pretty cool, but unfortunately the kind of date Jack had meant was for he and Bunny alone.

Katharine flips another page of her book; she'd been sitting at the window seat in North's library reading for about two hours, now, and Nightlight couldn't wedge her off her seat if he tried. She often got lost in her books, and he was afraid that if he asked her what to do one more time she might decide to throw him out the window or something.

He sighs loudly from his place on the floor, and rolls onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. Why did Jack have to go out on a date _today_? Why did Bunnymund agree to it? - Today was so, so boring!

And, yes, he could read - but it's not the same! He wanted to run, play, _experience_! He wanted to jump out of the way from a snowball during a snowball fight, he wanted to play frisbee, he wanted to just go out and do something! Anything!

Another loud sigh comes from him, and he turns on his side, not even bothering to put an arm under his head.

Why did Jack have to go? - He would know what to do! He was always having fun!

Maybe he didn't entirely need Jack, but his friend seemed to know everything when it came to _not_ being bored. It was amazing, the things he could do when he was bored.

...What would Jack do if he were the one who was bored right now?

He furrowed his brow at the thought, rolling ideas around in his head.

Jack usually would...play. No, no, the other would go out and play _pranks_.

Nightlight had been a victim to some of those pranks before, and they look pretty fun to do; He'd never played a prank before, really. Not the pranks Jack can pull, anyway. Nightlight's pranks were usually on children, and, yes, that was hilarious, but right now the children of Santoff were too busy to prank.

"What are you thinking about?" Katharine asks, placing a bookmark on the page she'd been on, "you've been quiet for a while, now."

Nightlight hums, waving a hand lazily, "Nothing, go back to reading."

Katharine is quiet, and he can practically see the little glare she sends his way at that, "You're thinking about something, and whatever it is has your attention. I'm curious as to what it may be."

He sits up and grins at her after turning himself around, "I've been thinking," he starts, and now knows he has her full attention - something he hadn't had in what seemed like forever now, "about what Jack would do if he were bored -"

"- That's not a good thought." she says. She'd never been pranked by the winter spirit, but she'd seen some of the damage caused - it took her three hours trying to get pie remains out of North's beard one time.

"- AND," he continues, "I thought about how, when he is bored, he pranks and tricks people! - And it sounds fun!"

"You don't even know _how_ to prank like him," Katharine points out, "and you have no one to prank! - Everyone is busy, as you'd said many times now."

Nightlight frowns. She was right, he didn't have anyone to prank.

Everyone was too busy to prank.

And pranking Jack would be absolutely amazing - plus it would be some fun payback for all the times he'd pranked Nightlight - but, as Katharine had said, he didn't know how to prank as well as Jack did.

Jack had years and years of experience, after all, and he was sure that the winter spirit would just _know_ it if he were about to be pranked. Like a sixth sense, almost, if it were possible.

Heck, Katharine had a sixth sense when it came to books; she just _knew_ it if someone were writing, or in the middle of a good read. He can only assume the same for Jack, but instead of books, it was pranks.

Nightlight glances around the library, thinking hard on this - who would he prank? He couldn't just fly up to the moon and prank Tsar, because he'd know it the second Nightlight began to fly his way. Tsar always looked forward to him visiting, but he was most likely busy now, too.

Because, sadly, Tsar began...er...pairing up Bunnymund and Jack? - Nightlight wasn't sure what pairing truly meant, but so far Tsar never answered him, just instead saying things like ' _they're my oh teepee, Nightlight_ ', or, ' _you wouldn't understand these feels_ '.

Tsar, _bless his little heart_ , often got on Nightlight's nerves when it came to this...thing.

But like any brother figure, he just let it slide and continued on as if whatever Tsar was doing didn't catch his interest every so often.

He trails his eyes passed a few books titles, hoping to think up something - 'elements and the fire bird', 'to kill a mockingbird', 'how to smell a weasel' - which, weird - and a few others before he glances to Katharine.

She shrugs, "Why not just read a good book? - I know a few you might like." She suggests.

He looks over a few more titles, before his eyes land on a thick tome, the words 'mother nature: spirits and wine' are written in gold, seeming to stand out among the others surrounding it.

Mother nature...it'd been a long, long time since he'd even really heard of her. She wasn't too mean last they met, and she seemed like a queen almost, in the way she had carried herself then.

He might have just found his victim.

Katharine catches his gaze, turning her head to scan the books in the bookshelf he'd been looking at, before frowning, "No." she says.

"But - but she's the only one!"

"She'll outright _kill_ you!" Katharine rolls her eyes, "Plus, how can you prank her? - She's mother nature! She could probably just get spiders or something to tell on you before you ever set up your pranks!"

Nightlight smirks, "I'll just sneak, then!"

"Into her home?" Katharine asks, "No offense, but you are _not_ the best hider, mister glow-in-the-dark."

"I'll be _really_ sneaky -"

"- You're not going to prank mother nature."

He crosses his arms, and puffs out his chest, "I'm my own person, and I say that I _will_ prank mother nature!"

"Your own person?" Katharine asks, "Is that a substitute for being an adult - which you are _not_?"

"I don't have to be an adult to prank someone!" Nightlight says, "I'm going! It'll be fun!"

He stands up, making his way to the door, stepping over a few small piles of books on his way.

Before he can exit, Katharine slips in the doorway, blocking his path.

"What?" he asks, "Are you going to join me?"

A few moments of silence pass, before Katharine crosses her arms and sighs, "Let me get Kailash; I might as well come and make sure you live through this."

Nightlight glows just a bit brighter, grinning.

This was going to be great!

* * *

 **-o-**

* * *

Mother nature's home was more or less a cottage inside of a very, very large cave somewhere in Europe. She had lit the place much like how Bunnymund had lit his warren, and it was split up in four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and winter. This was her sanctuary - her cottage hidden in spring, her throne high up on the cliffs of winter. Whether or not she had anything in summer or autumn Nightlight wasn't too sure - it'd taken them a good hour to find her home, after all.

She seemed to be out, though, lucky for them. Nightlight can only guess to where she had gone.

Katharine rolls her eyes as he excitedly looks around nature's home. It was very fancy, to him, what with the modern things inside. He never took mother nature to be one for newer technology, but he wasn't one to judge - he quite liked the newer things, too. Expecially television.

"What are you planning first?" Katharine asks quietly, breaking him from his exploration.

He hums, putting a hand to his chin in thought; he hadn't thought of what pranks he'd wanted to try, in all honesty. All he had wanted was to prank.

As if reading his mind, Katharine shakes her head, sighing, "You didn't think of one, did you?"

"Not really," he admits, sending her a sheepish smile and a shrug of his shoulders, "I just wanted to prank, but I never thought of any she'd fall for."

Katharine closes her eyes, looking up as if in thought, "How about a simple one? - Like...those ones Jack uses most often? Would they work?"

Nightlight hums once more. The most common tricks for Jack were simple: Saran wrap in the doorways or inside the fridge - anywhere you wouldn't really expect it to be, horrible tasting food, confetti filled buckets above doorways, simple things much like that.

"Do you have...plastic wrap?"

Katharine arches up an eyebrow, "What for?"

He smiles, "You'll see! - Do you have any?"

She shakes her head, before gesturing to the kitchen, "Perhaps you can find some in her kitchen?"

He nods, making his way into the kitchen - it seems as if it belonged in a mansion instead of a cottage, really, but that was just his opinion, based on nothing more than the chandelier hanging above the kitchen table.

Katharine goes to search one of the cabinets as he checks the drawers. The kitchen is very well stocked, and it makes him just a bit curious - does mother nature even need to eat? Does she just keep food around for company?

Mother nature didn't seem like she had company over a lot last he'd seen here, but then again, that was many, many years ago (also before Jack had ever been introduced to her - they'd been pretty close. Almost like they were family, really, if you consider how much Jack talks about her. )

"Ah hah!" Katharine says, pulling out a tube of Saran wrap, "I found it!"

"Great!" he grins, taking it from her and looking around quickly, deciding where to put it.

Katharine catches him looking and takes a guess at what he had been planning, "Maybe you can put it on her bedroom door?" she suggests.

"Good idea!" he grins, running over to where the master bedroom was, Katharine following along with her own grin - she still thought this was a horrible idea, but hopefully they can gather a few laughs from it, right?

"How do we attach it?" She asks as he's pulling out the wrap.

"Tape?"

It takes Katharine a minute to find some tape - it was, sadly, gorilla tape, and would most likely leave a mark on the doorframe, but Nightlight tapes up the plastic before she can properly say so; she wouldn't really have fought with him, though. She saw this as her joining in on the trouble, and there seemed to be no way out of it.

"Do we lie in wait for her to fall for this, or are we going to just set up as much as we can?"

Nightlight has to think it over it for a minute, before his smile widens, "Everything! Every prank ever!"

Katharine sighs, "I knew you'd say that."

She just receives a pat on her head and a mischievous smile - one she found herself returning.

Little do they notice the odd shadow that had quickly disappeared as soon as it had arrived.

* * *

 **-o-**

* * *

They had everything in place for today - They replaced the cookies Jack had given Nature earlier with cookies that had no sugar in them, placed buckets of confetti above a few doorways, and even went so far as to take the fruit out of her fruit bowl to 'hide' them around her home.

Nightlight wanted to stay and watch what transpired, but Katharine had told him that he can just use the moon's telescopes, and how they had a setting to be able to look in cave systems - she had used them a lot over the years, and had found settings on them not even Tsar knew about.

And that night they stay with Tsar for dinner, laughing themselves to tears as mother nature tries - and fails - to get all the confetti from her hair - only to walk straight into 'an invisible force'.

Jack doesn't get to witness it, sadly, but Nightlight will tell him all about it later.

* * *

 **-o-**

* * *

She's gone the next morning - she had gone off to look for the troublemaker who had tricked her, which has both Nightlight and Katharine giggling to themselves throughout the morning, as she will likely never find said troublemaker.

Katharine had looked through some books of hers and had suggested getting balloons and filling them with water and going from there, and Nightlight had searched for and asked baby tooth - one of Jack's first friends - about any good pranks Jack may have done before, and she had told him about cutting North's face out of pictures and sticking them everywhere he could - she didn't really question why he needed prank ideas, though, merely giving him a wave goodbye and flying back to her job of gathering teeth.

When he told Katharine of this, she giggled for a good five minutes - North wasn't unattractive, but he made the most silliest of faces sometimes, and she had many, many pictures of those times.

They had to borrow a school's copy machine, though.

When a student walks in and sees all the pictures 'of a wall', they just - invisibly, since older students don't usually believe in them anymore - push him in a broom closet until they're done. (Katharine cuts out one of the North faces and sticks it to the door, though, laughing. Whether any of the students will see it is up to debate.)

About thirty copies and a ton of cutting later, they get to work - Katharine suggests they put them in inconspicuous places, and they both had laughed when Nightlight had gone to tape one to the ceiling above Mother Nature's bed.

Behind counters, inside the refrigerator, between the creases of her couch cushions, next to books, placed on photos, and hidden as poorly as possible.

Then the water balloons - Katharine had made the call for that prank entirely, which made Nightlight feel just a bit proud because, yes, he had converted his sweet, caring, gentle friend to this amazing, prank-filled, and devious woman - were placed underneath pillows, couch cushions, and lined the floor of the bathroom.

And the third prank they set out was thought up by both of them noting things around the house that might be of use: Nature's alarm clock had the usual alarm sound to it, but now, after a good few minutes of tinkering, Katharine had made it sing a song - a very, very annoying song.

She said that you couldn't turn the alarm off now, and, while he would never wish a fate like that on anyone, he found himself laughing at the idea of nature chucking it out the window.

They were exhausted by the time they went back to the moon, but it was certainly worth it once nature had gone home.

That night they recorded her reaction - it was just too priceless.

But, sadly, they didn't get to see much of it, as Tsar had made them go home to Santoff Claussen, saying that they may feel better being in their own beds for one night, and that it was recording - they could watch it later.

They don't know it, but Tsar sits at the console overlooking Nature with a large bag of popcorn and a wide grin after they leave, laughing while she screams curses at no one in particular as she tries to find every picture of North's face as she could, unknowing of her fate with the water balloons, or the alarm.

This was hilarious! - No way was he going to pass up this opportunity!

* * *

 **-o-**

* * *

They left the recording to be watched another day, as today was going to be the best prank they'd done so far.

The prank involved rabbits.

Tons of rabbits.

Bunny had been complaining over the years of how rabbits kept getting in his warren and eating his crops - well, now he no longer seemed to have such a big problem, as Nightlight had grabbed the biggest sack he could find and shoved as many rabbits as he could inside.

It was mean, yes, but it only took him a second or two to catch them all, using his flight to his advantage.

They had agreed later that night that they'd stick around for this one, as mother nature would most likely stay at home today and watch for her 'intruder'.

Boy was she in for a surprise.

Katharine muffles a laugh in her sleeve, biting into it as he shows her the sack - there had to be about forty rabbits in it, and getting it here was a feat, as it was quite heavy.

She nods to him, and he opens the bag up, releasing them all - they ran out of the sack as if a swarm. A giant, fluffy barrage of little furry animals, stomping their feet as they ran, sounding much like a stampede of elephants instead of tiny bunnies.

They best part about this?

They all ran to the cottage.

Mother nature only had to step out on her porch to see the damage; there were so many rabbits running around the seasons, and her being Mother Nature, they were unafraid of her, and thus she trips over one when she takes a few steps outside to witness the many, many fluffy things hopping around her 'yard'.

The sound she makes and the flailing of her arms cause both Katharine and him to laugh aloud, holding their stomaches and wiping tears from their eyes.

They barely notice the shadow of Nature looming over them until they calm down some.

" _You_." mother nature growls out venomously.

"Nightlight!" Katharine screams, running to Kailash as Nightlight takes off, avoiding a leafy vine that had nearly hit him in the face.

They both fly as fast as they can, right through the seasons, right out of the cave, and as high as the sky would allow, and yet Nature seemed to be right at their heels, shrieking curse after curse their way, making shouted promises that even cut into the noise the wind made in their fast flight.

Nightlight and Katharine manage to lose the woman somehow by flying inside the clouds - which was amazing, considering Nightlight was glowing rather brightly from the scare.

They fly back to Santoff Claussen in a hurry, knowing that mother nature was said to be unpredictable. She might try to harm their little town - and that was something they never wanted from all of this.

They land just outside of Ombric's home, rushing inside to look for the man, before Nightlight trips.

And falls.

As confetti comes from the ceiling.

And a very, very loud " _PFFTTTTTTTHHHHHH_ " sounds out, causing Katharine to jump in fright, tripping over the very thing Nightlight had just a second before.

They lay there, surprise on their faces, trying to process what had just happened. They hear a loud, feminine laugh.

"Oh! This is amazing!"

Sitting up, they both blink in astonishment as, standing in the doorway, mother nature laughs, clapping her hands silently.

"Wha...?" Nightlight asks, as a piece of confetti falls off of his head.

"You!" Mother Nature says, "You have been tricked! By _me_!" she giggles, wiggling in happiness, "oh, how the tables have turned!"

Katharine doesn't sit in her surprise for long, instead pulling the thing that Nightlight had fallen on - a whoopie cushion - out from behind him, dangling it in front of Nightlight, catching his attention.

"What?" He asks, as Katharine laughs. The thing they'd tripped on - Saran wrap going from one end of the room to the other. " _What_?" he repeats.

"I _pranked_ you!" Mother nature says.

Katharine takes a moment to catch her breath, "How - oh, moon - how did you know it was us? How did you know to prank us?"

Mother Nature smiles mischievously, "A shadow told me you were at my home - and a little winter spirit helped me handle the trespassing accordingly!"

"Little winter spirit...?" Katharine blinks, before putting a hand to her forehead, " _Jack_? - Jack helped you set this up?"

At Nature's nod, Nightlight groans, rubbing the shock from his face, and getting some of the confetti from his hair, "I thought we were doing good!" he whines.

Nature laughs, "You were - but not good enough!"

"Wow," Katharine says, standing up and knocking off any confetti that had clung to her dress, "that was...very, very clever."

"Where's Jack?" Nightlight asks, looking around the room for his best friend, waiting for the winter spirit to hop out of one place or another, laughing.

"He left." Mother Nature answers, "The pooka would not let him, as I quote, 'enter the pranking shenanigans'. Such a shame, too. I'm sure he would have enjoyed the look on your faces! I hadn't laughed this hard in years!"

Katharine giggles, "Well, you got us - I actually expected you to, er...do something worse...?"

Nature nods, "Understandable; I have ended many a trickster's life."

"You're not...going to hurt us, are you?" Nightlight asks.

"No," she answers, "but, _unfortunately_ , I may as well prank you some more, shouldn't I?"

Nightlight groans once more, flopping back into the confetti he'd just sat up from.

Katharine eyes mother nature for a minute or two, "Or...perhaps, say, we...prank together?" she suggests, "After all, pranking is fun - but it's even more so with company, isn't it?"

Mother nature is silent, obviously thinking of the offer, "It is indeed fun." she states.

"Jack has been very busy lately," Katharine says, "So he won't be able to help you. Plus, we have many, many more tricks up our sleeves."

Nightlight sighs, "So many, and we hadn't gotten to use them!"

A few heartbeats later, nature smiles.

"You may call me Seraphina. Who shall we prank?"

* * *

 **-o-**

* * *

The next few weeks are filled with apprehension and second thoughts of even stepping outside for the poor inhabitants of Santoff Claussen. They'd spent their days busy, and, finally, once they had a break, it was spent trying to dodge and calculate who was the next victim of the pranksters.

Though, on the bright side, the days during which were beyond beautiful, almost as if Mother Nature herself was smiling, bright as she could.

(Little do they know that, yes, she is smiling brightly - along with her new friends, as they stalk their next victim, water guns in hand.)

* * *

 **-o-**


	7. Fireworks!

**Crummy sidekick to 'Pranksters'. No beta.**

 **Jack/Bunny**

 **Jack takes bunny to see fireworks. Bunny is mildly terrified. Fluffy, craziness ensues.**

-o-

They sit together on the rooftop of an old building, some food items spread out behind them as they dangle their feet over the edge.

They were waiting for the fireworks - Jack was so happy to hear about them happening in Burgess that he just _had_ to drag his boyfriend off to see them!

Bunny had only complained a little about it, but stopped once they set up a short picnic area - complete with tacky blanket and old basket, just for fun. He wouldn't admit it, but Jack knew he loved picnics far more than he let off. Bunny loved being outside, and eating outside made it a hundred times better.

Jack knew for a while about forth of July, about the fireworks and such, but never really had anyone to share it with - he was usually alone, and he ended up sitting far, far away from the gathering families and couples. Seeing people together like that just made him feel lonely.

But now he could sit as close as he wanted, and he didn't feel bad at all, because now he had someone with him this time.

What makes this even better is that now he was one of those gathering couples.

Bunny didn't need to know about that stuff, though. Jack was more happy that the pooka even let him drag him out of his warren.

Sure, Bunny had been busy making next year's supply of chocolate eggs, but Jack wouldn't put off taking Bunny on another date - dates were fun, after all!

"Why are you so excited? - Aren't fireworks just glittery paint or something?" Bunny asked, taking a biscuit out of the basket to munch on.

"Uh, no?" Jack frowns, picking idly at a loose string on his sleeve, "you've been alive _how long_? - You've got to have seen fireworks by now!"

"Yeah, yeah," Bunny rolls his eyes, "in case you haven't realized it yet, us guardians didn't really have time for these things."

"-You mean that you guys acted like being the guardians was _just_ a boring old job." Jack deadpans, earning a nod in agreement from the pooka.

"We...just aren't used to" - Bunny gestures forward with a paw - "all this."

' _This isn't our time and we don't know what to do,'_ was something Jack could almost hear being said. Many spirits didn't like how things changed, or didn't stay in touch with the world. Jack can't say he's one of them, though - sure, he misses the good ol' late 1600s, but he wasn't going to flip off the world for it.

Bunny on the other hand...he wasn't in touch with the world at all, save for when he left his hole in the ground to give children gifts on Easter. He's probably gone out of that hole once in his life before Jack came around, and that was a long, long time ago - heck, Jack probably wasn't even born back then!

Of course, being a spirit, time and age meant nothing to him, but - man - that was a _long_ time ago.

Now, though, Jack would try to bring the guardians out of their hermit lifestyles for fun every once in a while. Bunny, being his boyfriend, happened to take the brunt of that effort, as Jack would drag him out of his hole every couple of days.

Nightlight liked to help in that regard, too. He didn't show up until after Jack helped defeat Pitch. Jack can remember it as if it were yesterday - Nightlight and Katharine flying in on her goose through one of North's windows, weapons out, ready for a fight.

They hadn't even been told about Pitch until the very end. Jack still finds it hilarious.

But Nightlight was probably his best friend so far - spirit-wise, anyway. They went out to play outside all the time, usually dragging Katharine along with them.

The little guy had wanted to come along, and Jack wouldn't have minded it much, but Bunny and him hadn't had a nice date in about a month or so, and Jack ended up having to break it to Nightlight that, _sorry, you can't come_.

He'll make up for it later. Maybe he can bring Nightlight to the south pole to play with the penguins later. The little guy always wanted to check them out, but didn't have the courage to go alone - yknow, since the south pole was more or less father winter's domain. The old guy didn't like non-winter things much, even if they were winter enthusiasts.

But for now it was just Jack and his boyfriend, snuggled up on the edge of a rooftop, waiting for the fireworks like everyone else.

This felt like some weird relationship milestone. Jack should have brought a camera.

Oh well. He's sure Bunny will probably paint a pretty accurate picture of today, if all went well.

Jack shrugs, leans to the side, bumping his shoulder gently against Bunny, "hey, no one's used to this," he says, "but that doesn't make it any less _cool_ , right?"

It takes Bunny a minute before he chuckles, wrapping an arm around Jack. He's still munching on a biscuit, but it couldn't ruin the moment if it wanted to, "I caught that, you weasel."

Jack sniggers, "you liked it, you know it. It was a pretty...n _ICE_ joke."

"You didn't even try that time," Bunny points out.

"You want me to try?"

"No."

"Thought so."

-o-

It was night, and they could hear the distant shouts of the firefighters as they prepared the fireworks. Burgess may be a small town, but they took fireworks a little bit farther than other towns - they'd use fireworks long into the night.

Sometimes, back before he was a guardian, Jack used to see the sandman up above, quietly enjoying a few minutes of the show before going off to another town. He never got to stick around long, because even though there were many fireworks, children were still falling asleep over the noise.

Jack couldn't blame them for that. It gets pretty late sometimes. Even he had a tough time staying up until the very end.

They still were sat on the edge of their chosen rooftop - it was a great view. Not too close, but close enough to faintly see the figures running back and forth, carting large boxes of fireworks and getting things ready.

Before they knew it, a loud pop filled the air. Jack jumped at the sudden noise, unprepared.

Looking to Bunny to see his reaction, Jack frowns.

Bunny hunches his shoulders as another firework is lit - whistling through the air in a bright green hue. His ears are pulled back, and it looks like he's struggling with himself on whether he should stay or leave.

Just as another firework goes off, Jack gently touches Bunny's arm, snaking his hand down to intertwine their fingers, "what's wrong?" he asks, loud enough to hear over the thundering noise of fireworks.

After a few more go off, and the men are preparing more, Bunny wiggles his ears lightly, "th - they're loud." he whines.

He _whines_. Bunny never whined. Not ever.

Jack is pretty sure by now that the fireworks were scaring him. Of course they were loud, but Bunny has many loud things in his home - things like the radio, which he turns up far too loud for even Jack's liking - and so Jack knew that it wasn't _just_ the noise.

What was so scary about fireworks?

Jack looks up at the sky, the blue-red smoke left over from the last fireworks floating down quietly, barely visible.

Looking back to bunny, he scoots closer, wrapping both his arms around Bunny's arm, "if you're scared, we can go home."

The pooka huffs indignantly, flicking an ear forward, "'m not scared."

Just as he says this, another round of fireworks - these ones much, much louder than the ones before - are let loose, whistling through the air.

Bunny squawks loudly, jumping up about an inch off the ground. He ends up wrapping both arms around Jack, his face pressing harshly against Jack's head, shaking.

Jack blinks in surprise, before reaching up to push Bunny's arms away, "alright, alright, how about we go back to the warren? Huh? - It's nice and quiet with no fireworks."

Bunny is silent through this, though, staring fearfully at the sky. His heart was beating so hard, Jack could almost feel it beating against him.

Jack was worried - was Bunny having a panic attack? He'd heard of them, but he didn't know what to do for one, if that's what was happening.

He manages to wiggle himself away enough to grab onto both Bunny's arms gently. He stands slowly, letting the pooka catch up with him. The fireworks were nearly ear-splitting in their noise by now. Jack knew that if they stayed around any longer they would just get worse.

Jack didn't want Bunny to stay here for the show, if that was the case.

He gently ushers Bunny to the other side of the rooftop - leaving behind their picnic. They could always get some new stuff. The owner could just get the items off their roof themselves at this point.

"It's okay, I'm here," Jack whispers, rubbing his hands up Bunny's arms, "I'm not going to let anything hurt you, okay? - You're safe."

A few more similar whispers escape him as they near the far edge. At that point, Jack was pretty sure his whispers were more for himself than Bunny.

Jack had feared it would take much longer to get his boyfriend down to the ground, but Bunny easily hopped down after Jack.

Without another word, they're rushing through Bunny's tunnels.

Jack couldn't feel more awful.

He'd taken Bunny on a date, sure, but that date ended up _scaring_ him - Bunny, the last pooka, the last, mightiest pooka. The guy who could look a fearling in the eye and worry about finishing up a painting at the _same time._

He ended up scaring Bunny. Brave, _brave_ Bunny.

And he couldn't feel more guilty.

-o-

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jack asks once more, leaning over the back of the couch, arms crossed.

Now, Bunny knew he probably freaked Jack out, and bad at that, but this was the _eighteenth_ time he'd been asked this since they arrived at the warren - not but half an hour ago.

Bunny hadn't talked much once they arrived - he had immediately picked Jack up off the ground, flung him onto the couch and curled around him.

As in: He used his boyfriend as a teddy bear.

Jack didn't complain much at all - sure, he ended up diving off the couch to get Bunny some water about ten minutes after, but the pooka was sure that was because Jack was far too worried for his own good.

The water helped a lot, though. So did having his mate so close.

Even though Bunny told him many times, Jack still didn't accept the answer of ' _I'm okay_ '.

Jack reaches over, taking one of Bunny's ears in hand, toying with it carefully, "are you sure?"

"Yes!" Bunny growls.

"Really?"

"- I'm fine! I admit it, I was scared!" Bunny says, reaching up to take Jack's hand in his paw, "it's done, it's over."

He doesn't receive a reply to this. He looks up at Jack, "I'm alright, frostbite, no need to get your panties in a wad."

He waits expectantly, watching as many emotions flicker through Jack's face, before settling on a guilty look. Jack swings their hands lightly, looking down.

"Oh don't tell me -" Bunny starts,

"- I just - I wanted you to like it, too, and I didn't think it'd hurt you and you were _scared_ and I was _scared_ andIfeel _awful_ aboutit-"

Bunny tsks, lifting up his other paw to grab Jack's elbow, yanking him over the couch. If Jack lets out a very silly squeak at this, Bunny makes no comment.

"Chill out," Bunny says, ignoring the random flailing of limbs as Jack tries to situate himself, "I liked our date."

Jack manages to roll over, his head on Bunny's lap, looking up at him with a frown, "no you didn't. I messed up."

The pooka sighs inwardly - Jack had a bad habit of blaming himself. He'd spent so, _so_ long trying to get the other to stop. Jack hadn't blamed himself for anything in several months, now.

Now all Bunny's hard work had gone away, and Jack was back at it again.

"You didn't do anything," Bunny rolls his eyes, "I liked the fireworks - but maybe next time we should sit farther away. With sunglasses. And earplugs."

"But I brought you there - you didn't even _know_ what fireworks were! I could have explained them more to you! I could have -"

"-You didn't," Bunny states, "but that's _okay_. You were there when I needed you, and I couldn't ask for a better mate."

Jack huffs, then, "but I could have done _something_."

Bunny smirks, placing a paw over Jack's eyes, "You did, you goof. I just told you - you helped me. The end."

And, ah, there it is - that beautiful, bright smile that made Bunny fall in love over and over again. He finds himself smiling in return, unable to help feeling happy over winning such a smile.

Jack reaches up to push the paw away, letting loose a short laugh, "the end? - That was the _whole_ story? It was way too short; The hero forgot to slay the dragon!"

Bunny finds his smile getting wider at that - finally! Enough with the guilt!

"The hero did do something right - they saved their love, didn't they?"

Jack makes a disgusted sound, "you made that way mushier than what it was."

"It's true, isn't it?" Bunny leans down. He was going to kiss Jack - he deserved it, after all. A giant, big kiss that Jack couldn't push away. A big punishment kiss. A penalty smooch.

"Ugh," Jack says quietly, "you sap."

They lean into each other, sharing a kiss.

Sure, it wasn't full of fireworks, but the kiss could be described as such.

They would always remember this as 'that one date'. They would laugh about it in the future, about how fireworks danced between them.

It was truly something to remember.

-o-

o

-o-

 **Optional bonus:**

Jack, with a gasp, sits up, " _gay fairy tales_." he says, awestruck at the idea.

"Glad to have you back in your right mind."


End file.
